Agri-food chain in Romania - vulnerabilities and resilience to shocks in the crisis context induced by COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT

Recent evidence of the global impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has signaled unprecedented disruptions to food systems as a result of successive shocks to all segments of the food chain. In this context, the study addresses the analysis of the agri-food value chain in Romania and of the main sectoral economic and financial indicators. The results highlight imbalances and dysfunctions - i.e. the food supply chain is weakened by the highly fragmented agricultural sector;atomized processing & manufacturing enterprises and the economic and social fragility of small enterprises;low added value of the food industry compared to agriculture;chronic deficit of external performance - which require public and private efforts to increase the resilience of the agri-food sector.